Transcript:

James Harris: Here again on Truthdig this is James Harris with Josh Scheer. On the phone is Matthew Rothschild, the editor of The Progressive and the author of the new book “You Have No Rights.” I feel like I have some rights left, and so do other Americans. So why did you choose this title for your book?

Matthew Rothschild: I took the title of the book from a couple of brothers, Yasser and Hany Ibrahim, who were Egyptians living in the United States after 9/11 and they had the police come knock on their door, come in and drag them away and hold them in a pen for 24 hours where they weren’t allowed even to go to the bathroom. And then they dragged them through the Metropolitan Detention Center, banging their heads against the walls, especially on the wall that had an American flag on it. And then these guards played a little sadistic game, stepping on the chain between their legs, and then they’d fall down, and then the guards would say “Get up!” and then they’d step on the chain and then they’d say “Get up!” again. Ultimately, one of the brothers said to the guards, “Look, don’t we have any rights here?” And the response came back, “You have no rights.” What rights do we have, actually, if the president can say, even of U.S. citizens, that you’re enemy combatants and throw you in jail as he did, into solitary confinement, of two American citizens: Yaser Hamdi and Jose Padilla. And the Military Commissions Act allows them to identify any of us as an enemy combatant, and if you’re not a U.S. citizen, you can be thrown into jail and never have a right to talk to a lawyer or see a courtroom again for the rest of your lives.

Josh Scheer: Or they can outsource you for torture.

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Rothschild: They can disappear you. I mean, Bush and Cheney—they act like we’re an Argentinean junta and they’re disappearing people here, or sending them overseas to secret CIA prisons.

Harris: Now, something—.

Rothschild: Now, just let me go on for a second.

Harris: OK.

Rothschild: What Fourth Amendment rights to privacy do we have if the NSA, the National Security Agency, can spy on us without a warrant when the law says they need to have a warrant to spy on us? What First Amendment rights do we have to protest if we can’t protest in front of the president or the vice president, but if we have to go to some free-speech zone a half-mile or a mile or a mile and a half away where they can’t even see us?

Harris: You’ve been called a madman. and I’m sure you’ve been called anti-American. I don’t know if you know, but an executive order was issued by the president, I believe on the 17th of July, and it said, basically, that if you protest or threaten what he calls “stabilization efforts in Iraq,” your property can be seized and you can be detained. Were you aware of that?

Rothschild: I have the order in my hand. I was just writing something on the computer to update our website with something on that. Yeah. If you are—in the mind of the secretary of the Treasury—posing a significant risk of committing an act of violence—you don’t have to have committed an act of violence. If he thinks you are at risk of committing an act of violence in order to protest the policies of the Iraqi government or the Bush administration’s policies to promote what it calls “economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq,” then the secretary of the Treasury can put a freeze on all your assets. This is unbelievable. What Bush is trying to achieve here, by executive order, are things that he can’t achieve legislatively. Someone’s got to put a stop to this. Congress has got to put a stop to it because he is seizing all sorts of authoritarian powers right now by executive decree.

Harris: But Matthew, let’s be real for a second. Here we are, year four of this war. Given what you’ve seen so far from Congress, can they really make a change in this war? Can they really change the mind of George Bush?

Rothschild: They’re going to have to step up to the plate sometime, or we can kiss our Constitution goodbye, because Bush is trampling all over it. Cheney’s trampling all over it. What needs to happen, in my mind, is impeachment proceedings of the House Judiciary Committee against Bush and against Cheney, to make them know that they are going to be held accountable or at least there’s going to be a process to try to hold them accountable, that they can’t get away scot-free with all this stuff, and to tell the next president or the one after that that they can’t get away with this stuff.

Scheer: People talk about—you know, Bush has talked about this so many times—“They hate us for our freedom.” That was a line used long ago. People talk about, “Visit the free country, the free country, the free country.” Why don’t people realize that when you take away the Constitution, even the parts you dislike, you’re really hurting the freedom? Or is that just a word that’s being bantered around, like any kind of spin?

Rothschild: I wish more people in this country would really revere the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, the Sixth Amendment and the Eighth Amendment. But Cheney and Bush themselves are intolerant of the freedoms that are enshrined in our Bill of Rights. In my book, “You Have No Rights,” I tell the story of a guy named Steve Howards who was walking through Beaver Creek, Colo., an open-air mall there and, of all people, Dick Cheney is there, shaking hands. And Steve Howards goes up to the vice president, about three feet away, and says, “Mr. Vice President, I think your policy in Iraq is reprehensible.” ... And then he walked away. But the Secret Service approached him 10 minutes later and said, “Did you assault the vice president of the United States?” And Steve Howards said, “No, I was just expressing my First Amendment rights.” And they responded, “No, you assaulted the vice president of the United States. You’re under arrest.”

Harris: They arrested him?

Rothschild: They arrested him.

Scheer: Do you think Cheney was the one who said, “He was the one who assaulted me”?

Rothschild: I don’t know. But the Secret Service has a policy now, not only of protecting the president and the vice president from assassination, but protecting the president and the vice president from dissent, and that’s not their job.

Should you really be talking about your relatives like that, Mattycakes? I mean, seriously…why don’t you write about something that people can’t glean from a single newscast or newspaper - like the internal truth of your family.

But hey…we’re all of Merovingian blood, anyway. Aren’t we, Matty? You, I, and every president of the United Snakes in America. Yes, including Obama. It’s out there in plain sight, folks. Wake up, sheeple. Mattycakes? Your family is stealing these freedoms. Spade. Called.

I received an E-mail from a gentleman that was one of the male telephone operators fired back in the 1920s. He wrote I was remiss in not giving both sides of the story. #102189 He wrote how would I respond if one hundred grandpas shouted in your ear every day just because they are making a long-distance call?

Ive been broken hearted since the mailman started making his rounds one day. He gave me a letter I thought for the better, but it didnt turn out that way. Now all I do is march along, and all my ideas about the army are all wrong. But theres no need to bother, no need to shout. Your in here son and you cant get out. Well, I guess Ill wait for that wonderful day when these old ears have heard the word. You can go now son youre free as a bird.

“This is one of the myriad factors that we suffer under a bible-totting Republicans”

1.) Hill-the-business-shill is head of the India Caucus

The shill was also on the Board of Directors at Walmart Just as Cheney was on the board at Halliburton. Funny the silence on the left.
and also amusing that it is the Republicans, not the Democrats who stopped the illegal amnesty hoax which would have put the last nail in the coffin of the US citizen worker.

Finely John do you believe you are doing your cause some good by attempting to alienate reasonable people who disagree with you on a party of choice. I have explained using historical data with references how the Republican party is not all right-wing bible thumpers. You insist of doing your little “AKA” thing.

I suppose it is your right to hold an opinion which has little merit. See that? A Republican who believes in free thought. OH BTW I’m also an athiest

From the Saturday Evening Post many years ago: Oh! Hush thee babe, granny is buying new shares. While daddy is playing with the bulls and the bears, mother is buying stocks that cant lose. So baby will have her expensive new shoes.

102019 Absolutely right John. The bottled water hoax is yet another example of how easily people are fooled. Also now that the UAW is on strike, a sort of last hooray for organized labor, we all know the result will lead to them being shafted by loosing their heath care benefits, something the union will have to pay for instead of the corporation. and when that’s not enough they’ll simply move to Mexico or China for cheaper labor putting tens of thousands more people out of jobs from the auto and its supporting industries.

I have just posted on my website a two-part series on how the US went from being a constitutional democracy to its present state as nearly a Christo-Fascist empire. This is shameless horn-tooting on my part, but I’m letting you know because I think some of you will find some important history there. Those of you who posted on the “Checkbook Imperialism” thread will have seen a rough draft.

The essay is in progress and links are now being added. Even now, though, it is directly related to this thread.

Thanks to you for some important material here.

If you visit my blog, please let me know. If you have one of your own, please include your URL. I’d like to visit.

In the old days if you wanted to call someone on the telephone you had to call the telephone operator. There was no such thing like punching in numbers. The telephone companies would only hire male telephone operators for this highly technical work. After one too many you s - - - - - f - - - - - - a - - h - - -  they fired the males and only had female operators do the work.

The thing that confirms my belief that the British totally control our media (These are their flagship media, Fox TV, NY Times, Time magazine) is how little you get from them in the way of news. It always surprises me how much more news you get with substance from foreign TV and other foreign media. About the only outlet for news that is fit to print and not fit to print is the Internet. (The British are working on it) The British controlled media fill up their programs with puerile garbage instead of things like Jena or Blackhawk. One station that has strip news on the bottom of the screen wrote that black boys attacked a white boy but neglected to say why. I usually have the sound turned off on TV, (but not radio) so I will not put my intelligence in jeopardy.

Manufacturing jobs, (Jobs paying livable wages) have lost 215,000 jobs over the past year. Does this mean manufacturing jobs are not manufacturing any longer? No, they have all gone to low wage countries. (In a few years the rest of the decent paying jobs will go to the slave labor countries) Health care employment continued to grow in August despite the guzzling of bottle water. Folks, there are not enough of springs in the universe to fill up one days production of bottle water. So, where do they get the water since they have stopped making land any more? They get it from the tap and charge as high as two dollars and fifty cents for it. (It cost them .2 cents for bottle water) I was at a hotel and I saw a bottle of blue label water on the desk. I thought, gee that was nice of them since they are only charging one hundred and eight dollars a day for the basic essentials. There was a tag on the bottle that said if you use the water there will be an additional charge of two dollars and fifty cents. They couldn’t pay their executives one billion for a Christmas gift and one billion for salary and one billion for a golden parachutes if they didnt over charge Johnny Q. This is one of the myriad factors that we suffer under a bible-totting Republicans (Aka Conservatives right-wingers)

Riya, I love your poetry #100811. My golden youth has flashed right by, as quick as the lightning across the sky. The final act in lifes long play, is usually the saddest Im sorry to say. See if you can guess who wrote it.

99948 Conservative Yankee, I think you’re right! I am no fan of Bill Clinton’s though I was quite surprised when Greenspan in a recent interview said of all the presidents he’s served with, Bill Clinton was the smartest of the bunch. Of course after this and praising Hilary as the smartest current candidate, he went on to say he would vote republican.

To me the democrats are the same as the republicans, they merely present themselves in a different light. Most of us realize they and their republican counterparts are bought and paid for by the same special interests.

Frankly I’ve gotten to the point where I see no point. No point in arguing, no point in voting and no point in advocating for anyone. I’m starting to see myself in the same light as John Borowsky. “We are all dead!” I see our system as being run by criminals and no one or nothing will ever change that short of a cataclysmic disaster.

No fault to you CY. I’ve been dealing with a group of my way or the hi-way 9/11 conspiracy theorists for half the day, so my brain pan has been swimming in oatmeal.

Sharpen your pencils Johnny and Janey Q it is time for your exams. If you had a father that served honorably as an ambassador to Great Britain. Your oldest brother gave his life for our country. Your younger two brothers gave their life for our country. Your youngest brother (The only survivor) served honorably in the Senate for years. Subsequently, the youngest brother was classified as a terrorist and denied boarding an airplane would you be hoping mad? This is what the Kennedy family was exposed to. If the bible-totting right considers Kennedys as terrorists, can you imagine what they classify the rest of us as?

A key, essential element in the Bubble Boy’s ascension to medieval king was a populace eager and willing to submit.

Of course, his loyal subjects don’t regard such fealty as a flaw, but an asset. It makes you wonder what history textbooks these dunces were studying in junior high and high school, when they regard dissent and skepticism of authorities as disloyalty.

“What shall I do now? What shall I do?
I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street
With my hair down, so. What shall we do tomorrow?
What shall we ever do?’
The hot water at ten.
And if it rains, a closed car at four.
And we shall play a game of chess,
Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door.

More from our good old friend, T.S. Elliot! God forbid that Blackwater knock upon our own doors, makes you almost want to get your passports all squared away and start googling the ExPat sites! Somebody save America, we’re sure trying but what’s up?

God Bless Truthdig, (politically correct or else),
When we the unwashed composed a comment that goes all over the country if not around the world our effervescent egos are more than pleased. Can any unwashed claim this in the 1940 through 2000? God Bless you Truthdig (Politically correct or else)

With all due respect to your opinion, I must point out that Bill Clinton was supported in his run for the presidency by many business folk who benefited from NAFTA. Most notably among these was the Tyson Chicken outfit that Clinton served as a “right-to-work” governor of Arkansas. He changed Arkansas law so Tyson could dump their waste into the White water River, and allowed regular violations of Federal environmental law as it benefited these non-union folks.

When Clinton signed NAFTA he did so with a Democratic majority in congress, BEFORE the Republicans took over. He also signed MFN for China breaking a long held non-partisan agreement that this country…land of the free…would never do business with manufacturers using prison labor to compete.

Hillary has taken the corporate connection one step further as head of the India Caucus she regularly pushes for an expansion of the H1b visa program allowing Indian companies, based in America, to hire cheaper foreign labor. She (as a board member of Walmart) never called on that company to provide health care and a decent living wage to it’s employees. To me this means, I and others like me) must pay the cost of Walmart’s parsimonious behavior.

Clintons are as greedy, and as entrenched in the “me-first” culture every bit as much as Bush and his bunch. I wouldn’t give-a-shit except it’s costing me and my family.

Conservative Yankee, I agree with some of your analogy about Clinton. To get re-elected and on the advice of Dick Morris, Clinton sold out the left, giving us NAFTA and the WTO.

I would like to point out however, it was not his generalship that gave us these programs. In fact it was the right who manifested these entities. Clinton merely caved in and signed them into law to save his seat.

With all due respect the only thing wrong with Clinton’s impeachment was the partisanship and the trumped up reasons. Clinton was a treasonous retch just like Bush. two sides of the same money grubbing careless coin.

Clinton didn’t give a shit about working Americans, and presided over the outsourcing of jobs just as did the two Bushes. He signed NAFTA, gave China MFN status (in spite of their prison labor force) and egan dismantling the social fabric of the USA.

Clinton masqueraded as a good-ole-boy from the Joe Lunch-box crowd while enriching his friends and planning for the Clinton Dynasty. pardoning Marc Rich and the FALN terrorists on behalf of his wifes Senate campaign.

Beating up on Bush isn’t gonna change the path we are on. Elect Hill-the-Business-shill Obama, John (big hair) Edwards and we’ll just get more of the same sell-out we have received under, at least, the last six administrations. I hate Bush, but in 18 months he’ll be outta here. We must begin to focus on the next front man (or woman)

More than 20% more people want Bush impeached than wanted Clinton impeached. One destroyed a country, ruined US foreign relations, crippled our economy, crapped on the constitution, and refuses to govern more than 30% of the people. The other got a BJ. Guess who got impeached.http://www.crookedinc.com

This is a statement by one of our great leaders that warned the people of our country and virtually all countries around the world. Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce. In addition, when we realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way, or another, by a few very powerful European men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation, depression and twenty-first century colonies originate.

When you tell people that our money is really not ours, they will refuse to believe you. The implications are too difficult to believe and will destroy most things they believe in. All countries are vulnerable especially Germany and Japan because when they lose a world war they must sell their souls to the victor. One of the cabal that controls our money stated the he cares not who makes the laws in a country as long as he owns the printing presses and their money.

NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING What was accomplished when the right wing killed the Kennedys? Nothing, only fulmination by the intelligent people in this country. What was done when robotic planes crashed into the World Trade Center piloted by a pilot (Most likely from building 7?) Nothing, only fulmination by the intelligent people in this country. Do you really believe that the Allah boys ready to meet their maker would fornicate, drink alcohol, stuff money in the panties of strippers on the eve of their martyrdom? (Would they do this and suffer the loss of their seventy virgins?) What was done when Bush went to war on lies and chicanery? Nothing, only fulminations by the intelligent people in this country. What is done when Bush and company are taking down the Bill of Rights and Constitution of the US? Nothing, only fulmination from the intelligent people of this country. What will be done when the two evils in the Washington kitchen go at each others throat? Nothing, except the annihilation of this earth.

The idea that its voluntary sounds good doesn’t it! What they haven’t mentioned is without this new ID people will not be able to visit national parks in their own state. As for tamper proof, ha,ha,ha! Putting all your information in one basket that literally hundreds of thousands of people will have access to will enable the greatest identity theft in history.

The same proposal was put out here in California. The cost of the new ID could run as high as 100.00 and maybe more. That’s great for the security corporations and their no bid contracts! No small wonder why Rudy, between Yankee baseball games, jumped into the business shortly after 9/11.

As for crippling state budgets go, that money will be passed on to us crippling many from being able to afford a driver’s license which in turn will force people to become criminals just to get to work! Half the people in my state can’t afford the insurance and registration now. Tacking on more money for a new ID will force many more to do what they have to to survive.

Super IDs for Arizona in works
Homeland Security wants driver’s license that serves as passport

Sean Holstege
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 25, 2007 12:00 AM

Arizona could be the first state along the Mexican border and one of the first
in the country to develop a driver’s license secure enough to be used in lieu of
a passport at a port of entry.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced an agreement Friday with
Arizona to use new, more-expensive, state-issued licenses as a valid ID for
entering the country.

New U.S. travel restrictions with stricter documentation requirements take
effect next year for the Western Hemisphere.

Creating tamper-proof IDs is critical in Arizona. Nearly 12 million pedestrians
and 9.5 million vehicles passed through Arizona’s six controlled international
border crossings last year.

At those ports of entry, customs agents have to review more than 8,000 valid
forms of identification.

Arizona issued nearly 1.3 million driver’s licenses last year.

Gov. Janet Napolitano’s office thinks the new license, still only a concept, may
cost $4 million to develop and could be paid for by an increase in fees.

A license now costs $10 to $25, depending on the age of the applicant. Getting a
more-secure license would be voluntary.

Job-seekers could use the new driver’s license to prove work eligibility under
the state’s tough new employer-sanctions law and to avoid prosecution under the
recently announced federal crackdown on hiring undocumented workers.

Washington and Vermont already have government approval to develop a secure
driver’s license that can be used for international travel in the Americas.

Vermont pushed for approval after a rush on passports created a backlog.

Starting Jan. 31, U.S. citizens will need a valid government-issued ID and proof
of citizenship to enter the country.

The Arizona Legislature must approve development of the new licenses, which
Homeland Security said could satisfy the requirements of the controversial Real
ID Act.

The act was written in response to a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission,
because all but one of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers used fake identities to
travel.

By law, every state must issue tamper-proof IDs by 2010. Rules are expected by
the end of the year.

Nationally, since 2005, customs officials have seized 90,000 fraudulent
documents and stopped 60,000 people making false citizenship claims at the
borders.

Nonetheless, 16 states have passed laws opposing compliance with the Real ID
Act.

Arizona is not among them, but earlier this year, Napolitano testified in
Washington, D.C., that costs of compliance would cripple state budgets.

You’re kidding, right? “The interview mentions “few” reasons to impeach” the Shrub? One would actually be enough, beginning with the lying us into an illegal war, (which I don’t think the article mentions, but you might have noticed something in these past 5 years on your own)

If not, Michael Shaw has provided more than a few, and there are certainly others.

The article mentions enough. The simple fact Gonzales has enabled torture for his boss is enough, let alone the manipulations and politicization of the Justice Department. According to our constitution, any foreign treaty is considered the law of the land. The Geneva Conventions have clearly been violated and the trials at Nuremberg rendered naught.

Also the president cannot legally legislate yet that is exactly what he is doing with his signing statements.

Now he ignores(obstructs) congressional subpoenas and tries to remake the Office of the Vice President into a new branch in government. He illegally spied upon us without FISA oversight and then tried to coerce a sick Ashcroft into legalizing his illegal actions. He manipulated and invented intelligence information, leaked his own stories to the press, then quoted his own leaks to “prove” Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. If these aren’t enough reasons to impeach, then what on earth is? Lying about an extramarital affair?

Just a quick thanks for your superb essay. I’d like to share it as part of my on-going volunteer work…filling in the educational gaps for those of my own generation, who somehow DID learn those 10 or 11 commandments, but somehow missed all this stuff about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. And, over the years, when I’ve tried to introduce such topics into the conversation, (especially work place conversation) they either try to “shush me up” or just sort of pass me over as the “militant” among them.

How sad is that? Patriots are now “militants”. OUTLAWS!! Talking about the Constitution is just too “political”. It makes one an “outcast” among the sheeple.

Still, they somehow “tolerate” me, and occassionally give brief attention. Just an aside piece of trivia…when I lived in Texas, I discovered that they middle school curriculum required 3 full academic years of TEXAS History. I honestly don’t know at what level, (if any) US History was taught. Seems like it wasn’t important in that state, to know any History other than the State of Texas history, and even that was a revisionist history.

So, I’m going to share this if it’s OK with you.
It’s never too late to learn about ones history, eh?

Felicity, actually in a way and under the Patriot Act the quartering of soldiers has been technically legalized. The government can now search and bug anyone’s dwellings without warrant or judicial oversight and without informing us and if anyone tries to inform us they could be jailed under its gag laws(free speech). Although soldiers aren’t throwing people out of their homes to shelter themselves, government officials can intrude in our homes at will, search our personal property and plant electronic devices. That is the next best thing to posting a military unit in your house.

America has been an oligarchy since the civil war. It began with Lincoln and the railroads and became a reality the moment corrupt post civil war generals dominated the White House and manipulated a supreme court rendering from the infamous Santa Clara vs the Southern Pacific railroad, declaring corporations as living entities, using of all things to proclaim it, the 14th Amendment. The irony of course is the Supreme Court never rendered such a decision and sided with a lower court that said corporations are not living but artificial entities, thus not entitled to the same rights as living persons. This lie enabled the Robber Barons of the McKinley Era. Not surprisingly, it was Karl Rove’s favorite period in time.

With the advent of the military industrial complex, our government went from telling corporations what to do in times of crises, to corporations telling government what to do all the time. There were perpetual crises, beginning with the cold war and almost immediately throwing us into Vietnam. Overnight generals and the Joint Chiefs became corporate CEO’s. Then came Reagan, his “buddy” G H W Bush and the New World Order and now junior and his perpetual war on terror. Now thanks to all of this, we are scathed in the ever tightening grasp of corporate feudalism(corporatism) and once again we face the probability of economic depression(unlike anything we’ve seen in the past) and with it, the resulting social unrest that will follow. In the past we had a New Deal to pull us back up by our foot straps and to avoid the abyss. Today we see the end of the New Deal and a complete cycle leading us right back to 1929! Unions are gone and stripped of power. Thanks to privatization, the money behind stripping that power is now in fact our own government! We have essentially become the very thing our forefathers had a revolution against when they first stood defiantly up to Britain’s East India Tea Company, then the largest corporation on the planet and dumped their tea in Boston Harbor.

The Bill of Rights has been trashed, the only ones having rights being the largest of corporations. The Bill of Rights has been out of public view since Bush 2 took office. It was damaged by light exposure (supposedly) and attempts to preserve the actual documenthave been the reasons placed upon it’s public disappearance. The saddest part however is not that this documenthas been hidden from view at the Smithsonian or is physically decaying and it’s not even what Bush has done to it. The saddest part is that many Americans don’t even know what it is let alone the words it contains or its meaning. For those of us who do know it, it is the most sacred documentin our nation and perhaps even in the world! We need to educate our fellow Americans of it’s importance before the day comes when government tells us it never existed! If that means going to jail or some military prison camp or if it even means the possibility in being killed, as Americans and patriots, we must do what we must do to preserve this most valued national treasure. It defines who we truly are.

As for the second amendment, the right to bear arms will disappear(just as it did in prewar Nazi Germany) the second marshal law becomes a permanent fixture. Hopefully there will be enough of us both within and without the realms of government to see to it this never happens. If it does happen our only resolve and in fact our duty as loyal Americans is to remain stubbornly defiant!

I believe the Bill of Rights should be posted on and in every government building in the nation as a reminder to all the reasons our country became so great. But instead they want to post the ten commandments.

It is the duty of every true American to stand up and fight if necessary to preserve this document. We should also have a copy of it on hand to dispense to every passerby we encounter and to teach those who know little or nothing about it before it becomes as quaint as the Geneva Conventions.

What is left of the Constitution will immediately be emploded like the WTC the next time weedboy doesn’t get his way the second he demands it. He has been working on turning America into a dictatorship since 1996-G.W.Bushs,own words documented. The Demos should be very afraid because he still has time to declare Martial Law,and don’t be surprised that those who hade voted against weedboy in the past,in congress and the voting public will be rounded up and herded off to one of those FEMA relocation centers so he can dispose of us and go on with his insanity of trying to run the world. Don’t believe it? Just look, before election in July 2000 Bush’s first #1 priority was war in Iraq and to go after Saddam and for all the yelling about Osama Bin Laden for 9-11 whom he started to go after only as a rouse, changed horses in midstream and went after his orginal target.The whole Bush Bunch needs to be impeached immediately.

It may not be correct to use “fascism” or “dictatorship” yet but what about Oligarchy? The big money persons and corporations, the oligarchs, determine who will have enough money to run for office and after the elections their lobbyists determine what the elected officials are for or against. So I think we do have an oligarchy.

I don’t wanna be accused of starting any riots or anything, especially with everybody all paranoid and stuff. But, if pushing the envelope means reminding each other that we DO have some AGENCY here, then we need to get things rolling, which would make the push a whole lot easier.

Now is the opportunity that Congress has been waiting for, to remind themselves of who they are. When george asks for this next $50bil, coming right up, they just say NO, immediately. No back and forth stuff. Just….no more money Boy George. No more money. We’re turing off the spiget. The money has dried up, and you cannot print any more of your own.

No more blood, and no more treasure. Seems simple enough to me. Just say no.

Maybe, we just need to push the envelope. Let’s see where America stands….....my friends, we DO stand, more and more EVERYDAY. What’cha gonna do some of us are just incorrigible,,,,the HEIGHT of impropriety, I say, the HEIGHT on impropriety! (I took that last part from the Shirley Temple movie, “Heidi”)

97186 Yes I live in Santa Cruz have been here for the last twenty years. Originally I’m from Philadelphia. As for William Rivers Pitt, I too enjoy his contributions. He has guts and it will be people like him who will ultimately help in bringing down this right wing junta.

As for the posting problems, I don’t know if this has anything to do with it or not but it seems to me all these problems in posting started after an unregistered poster suggested assassination as an option. I have nothing against free speech and people can say what they want. However this statement was not a very intelligent way in making a point.

In fact it wouldn’t surprise me if whoever did make that comment was a plant of some kind trying to sucker in others, entrap them if you will into going along with his insane notions.

When you look at how the government entraps these so called homegrown terrorists you’ll see my point. Like those stupid kids from Florida who were supplied cars, uniforms and cameras by the FBI or that Arab baker who was hoodwinked by an FBI informant who was selling weapons provided by the FBI.

Indeed we are neighbors. I thought I remembered you referencing a program on UCSC’s station at some time in the past. So, that’s what reminded me. I’m at a sister location. I was actually at the SC location as well, some 30 plus years ago, and then again as recently as 4 years ago. Now I’m at another “returning location”, since I was here 30 plus years ago as well. Seems like I’m backtracking here a bit. But, it all works out for the best. (I think);)

Anyway, I did read the piece by Will Pitt. He’s one of my favorites. I think there’s a way to reference some of his many other pieces from the truthout site index. He’s done some great stuff.

Well heck Cyrena! We’re practically neighbors! Yes those fires have been terrible. I think the worst in history in fact.

I was reading an article a few moments ago about Gonzales. It comes from William Rivers Pitt. It’s really strong commentary, the kind we need to hear and more importantly what our democratic congressional leaders need to hear.

As for this restriction thing, have they told you as much or are you simply having trouble posting? I tried to contact the web master earlier and he never got back to me. Perhaps there’s some kind of embedded virus or malicious software involved. Just a thought.

I shouldn’t have said “we” because I meant “me”. I’m the one restricted. And, that’s OK.

I’m just down the coast from you, not far at all. And, I was right there in your area until a bit over 3 years ago. So, I suspect we’re enjoying the same weather. (though we do have this Zaca fire still proving so dastardly).

As as aside, I too, had read the article on the whistleblowers in the frauding of Iraq. T/O has been covering these stories for quite a while, when we weren’t otherwise hearing them. I’ve suffered a similar fate, but I’ve taken no comfort in knowing how many others have suffered these past several years. And, I’m convinced that there are thousands we still don’t know about. In short, it has been brutal.

As for idyllic days, I live on the central coast of California so we always have such days. It hasn’t rained all month and we’re on the verge of severe drought of course but the sun is still shining.

I had an eye exam today and even though my pupils are still dilated I’ve been joyously overwhelmed with the good news of Gonzales’ departure. As Yoda said, “At an end your rule is and not short enough it was.” This house of cards is falling down. The only question I see is who will abandon the sinking ship next?

Democracy Now had a great show today. Maya Angelou gave a speech at Max Roach’s funeral. Great guests too! If you heard Amiri Baraka and Phil Schapp, that should have put your mind at ease. I think they summed up Bush and associates quite nicely.

Cyrena, I just heard on Democracy Now the rumor is Michael Chertoff will be Bush’s next appointee. Mr. “Palmer Raids” himself. If you’ll recall he did an unmemorable stint as New Jersey’s Attorney General. Mr. National ID himself. The paranoid professor.

My dearest people, we have lost the war against the bible totting right wing evils. The country of Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson is no more. Voting and other methods are futile. Our only hope now is we will be sent up in golden chariots to heaven to listen to Pat Boone and Frank Sinatra sing Amazing Grace for eternity.

Well Cyrena we’ll have to see. It wouldn’t surprise me if Kissinger got the job. And you’re right about the conformation thing too. When you have blue dog democrats like Feinstein sitting on the board God knows who will be rubber stamped next. Those blue dogs(a derivative of yellow dogs)gave Gonzales more spying powers. 41 of the 44 members legalized Bush’s illegal domestic spy program. We have to get rid of them along with the neocons. Here’s a list of them:

John, I see them as vilifying those who are exposing them for who they really are. What really cracks me up is them saying Gonzales resigned for unfair treatment. Unfair treatment!?! From a guy who legalized torture and trashed our Bill of Rights! Fair treatment would have been a good water boarding and a noose around his neck.

My dear Doug, I have noticed that you have seven hundred and eight comments on the Web page. My conclusion is that either Sheer is incompetent or he allows everything to be displayed. (Use either /or in the American vernacular please)

I was wondering the same thing myself. Who’s he gonna select. More importantly, is Congress going to confirm whomever it is.

That’s part of the devil of it. The Senate has never needed to appove of any of these criminals, and yet…they have. (Well, with the expection of all the ones the Shrub has run through the back door, like John Bolton and others that managed to create so much destruction).

Still, we’ll see now, who they will allow as a replacement.

Meantime, the investigation MUST go forward. We need all of these guys locked up, before we can expect to elect a new bunch next year.

To understand how the evil right wing pseudo bible totting bastards operate is to have the intelligence to know how they operate. They will never address the issues, but rather attack the good name of the person they are trying to vilify.

AT&T has enabled back door spying for the federal government and so have every Internet service provider on the planet. There is no such thing as a safe line.

Ma Bell, I agree AT&T is a monster and frankly I don’t like the idea of giving them a dime but there are extenuating circumstances. Because of health reasons I am in limbo. Starting with a heart attack, then diabetes and other health problems I am stuck with AT&T because I need their universal lifeline plan while awaiting social security disability. I would like to switch everything to Working Assets but they do not carry a local plan. They are my long distance provider and donate money to organizations like the ACLU (of which I am a member) every time I make a phone call. I would reccommend them to any activist.

He’s right. They do have access/control of every single line, and they are still AT&T. (even after the 3 decade old merry-go-corp rounds. So, whatever they wanna call it today, it’s still the one network that has the Big Daddy control over the lines, and is the official Telecommunications of the Dick Cheney Whitehouse.

So, the Mob owns us, and all of our communication access, no matter who you writethe check to. The fly-by-nights that operate their own sort of contract service are pretty good for some peoples’ needs, if you don’t mind changing companies all the time. Seems like a hassle though, since it’s all coming out of the same spicket anyway. And, if dick bush should get in a mood and decide to cut everybody off….he can.

AT&T has the master key. (they didn’t cut a new one for every merger.)

...and as to it being “none of my business” when you post a comment, it becomes the business of the community where you post. IF in truth you feel it is “none of our business” don’t put it on the internet….

Hey Ma Bell First off and as much as I hate to argue, I don’t need your lip service. It wasn’t necessary and it cheapens what I talking about. Secondly, for your information AT&T owns and controls every phone line in this country whether you use their services or not. Not that it’s any of your business but I don’t use their long distance and I don’t use their Internet services but it doesn’t matter. They still have control and access to every line in the nation and other companies pay them directly for its use.

Any techy will tell you there is no such thing as a tamper proof ID. The magnetic strip on the back of all licenses and passports can be scanned from a hundred feet away with the right equipment. Police have such equipment and so does anyone who wants it, including criminals who are stealing identities. I did an interview with a techy who mentioned that overseas terrorists will scan say a coffee house for example and be able to tell how many Americans are in that coffee house, then decide whether or not its worth bombing. This new ID plan is sheer stupidity. It will carry all of your pertinent information in one basket(which is really stupid) and expose that information to thousands of DMV employees, government officials, foreign countries and God knows who else. Whoever invented this plan needs psychiatric help.

“I was dwelling on that the other day after getting a phone bill from AT&T”

Are you living in the 1950’s???

There are a squadrillion phone service companies with lower service charges, higher ethics, and less intrusive policy… WHY would you choose AT&T, they are not in reality even AT&T but Cingular with a bought&paid; for history.

Try http://www.lowermybills.com and find a service company with what you want. I’m paying .03 a minute with powernet out of OHIO, but I’ve now found cheaper service and will be going with a net se4rver when broadabnd becomes available.

You may not be able to stop the snooping, but at least you won’t be paying premium for it.

AND for the unlisted number, tell the phone company to list you as bungle construction INC, or Jonny Walker, or Tom mix. Just because you are paying the bills, doesn’t mean it’s your phone…. vola, no “unlisted” charge.

As for the spying thing, I was dwelling on that the other day after getting a phone bill from AT&T. I was thinking about how they helped Bush spy on us and then I noticed in the bill I am now paying them a 1.25 per month to keep my name unlisted. I began thinking “what’s the point?” They already have all my phone calls and Internet activity available to any government official who asks for it. Having an unlisted number in this day and age is ludicrous with this kind of stuff going on and all the satellite(spy in the sky) technology and as you mention, the cameras everywhere. We are under a great big microscope 24/7 and of course the scary part is that the people doing the looking do not have our best interests in mind.

Well Cyrena always glad to be of help and actually I’m not a Mac user though I wish I were. I bought a bare-bone (pc) system and added most of the components myself. I’m still a novice though just as you are. I do like the idea of FOSS however. If it’s out there, why not utilize it? You’re right about the upgrades too. They are constantly improving and provide a good support network.

Open Source is incredible! I got into it after interviewing this guy Christian Einfeldt for Assignment Zero. He set up a free Linux system for the kids of the KIPP Bay Academy Middle School in San Francisco. He created this “FLOSS” program known as “The Digital Tipping Point.” It’s basically a free open source film bank that anyone can contribute to, edit films or borrow from other’s films to make their own. At the time, he was making a film of his exploits and interviewing people about open source. I knew very little about it up till that point.

Michael Shaw: thanks for the browser tip. I have never had the problem before and I figure it was some goverment spy thing.since tuesday you could hear another phone ringing,fax ringer,people talking and it cut off 2 calls out of 3 that day.The phone company was up on the pole across the street last week and I wwent over and just to be me asked if he was installing the latest frem the bush spy machine. the cameras are going up all over around here lately.more toward the richer areas but still I notice them and I point them out to who ever is with me so they know where they are. I alo greet them with the famous Cheney 1 finger salute, after all manners cost nothing.
Hi Cyrena will writeback to you later, we had severe weather and several tornado touchdowns in the area the wind got to 82mph about 5-6:30pm.

To all those Bill Maher fans he’s back tonite at 11pm on HBO can’t wait to hear his latest on Weedboy so much has gone on against the American people and rights in the last 3 months he should have plenty of ammo to blast Weed and Dicko and ROVE. Lets hope that the creeps in the whitehouse don’t censor him.

Thanks for the tips. I actually did download the add-ons for firefox, but it didn’t solve all of my problems. . It could just be that I’m old, and haven’t been able to “adapt” as quickly as I used to. Thing is, I have the professional version of adobe, and in the IE, I can zap anything into a pdf documentas easily as I can cut and paste something. Matter of fact…easier.

And, I did try with the back and forth stuff, but I’d be willing to bet that you’re a MAC user, because these PC’s are just too finicky for that to work smoothly and seamlessly all of the time. And, if you’re an open source maniac, then you’re way ahead of me in the computer literacy area. I still can’t figure out how to make bold or italic text in these blogs. If I can’t highlight it and press the bold, italic, or underline key, then I’m SOL. (and have to resort to CAPS). I know I’m supposed to use all of these brackets and stuff, but it never works for me.

Still, thanks for the tips. I will cruise over to firefox again, and see if maybe the addon has improved. Sometimes that happens, as they work the different bugs and things out of these applications. Meantime, I’ll keep looking forward to your posts.

OH…BTW, I don’t do any “professional” type blogging. I haven’t really had time until recently. BUT, I’m hoping to start. So, I’ll check out that proscribe right away….

Cyrena, I understand your plight with adobe but you could also consider using Mozilla for your blogs and Explorer with adobe. Just a thought. I sometimes open both browsers and switch from one to the other. I don’t know in what context you are using adobe but if you are blogging professionally might I suggest Scribefire.http://www.scribefire.com/

I was thinking the same thing about the firefox brower, when I read the message from purplewolf. Here in my university community, we were long ago advised to use Mozilla Firefox or Oprah (not the TV lady)instead of internet explorer as our browser on the university server. And, I’ve tried, several times. BUT, each time, I end up switching back, because I can’t get it to work with my adobe application. (at least not as conveniently as I can with the IE, and I simply use it for just about everything.) So, I’m hoping that they will come up with something that allows me to easily incorporate that application. As soon as they do, I’m on it. .

911truthdog,
I still don’t know what to say or think about the maybe/maybe not censorship. Some of my stuff makes it through, and some of it doesn’t. I still haven’t figured out what seems to make the difference, but I can’t really afford to lose any sleep over it. There are multiple other news and comment sites, most of which have equally informative news and comments. You can access many of them right from one of the truthdig pages. They have them all linked over on the right side of whichever page it is.

Truthout.org is my favorite, but they don’t have a comment section any longer. Still, you can always chat about the stuff here. (if they let you);)

IE…“a notice at the top of the page:To help protect your security Internet Explorer has blocked this website from displaying content with security certificate errors”

After reading purplewolf’s comments about Internet Explorer, frankly I think that is the real problem. Explorer is a pain in the ass and it can be easily corrupted. I would recommend using a different browser. I’m using Mozilla Firefox and not having any problems. You can get your free browser here:

Douglas, did you hear how republicans in California are trying to change districts so that in the presidential elections only democratic districts electoral votes will go to democrats and republican electoral votes will go to republicans even if the democrats win the state? http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082107K.shtml

Nitro, our first amendment rights have been under siege for a long time(years) now via the separation of church and state clause now that we give tax dollars to religious organizations, the attempts to forced prayer in the classrooms or the courts, the so called free speech zones, getting arrested for wearing political tee-shirts, being shot at with wooden bullets for peacefully protesting at a dock workers strike, being rounded up by NYC and Washington DC police without warrant for marching(or not) in peace protests and being made to stay in jail until you provided cops with your political associations, attempts to change the 1st amendment under the fabrication of a federal flag burning law, gag rules placed upon us by the Patriot Act. The list goes on and on.

#96386 by Michael Shaw on 8/22 at 11:11 am: “...they are already sharing personal information with these two said countries, our information. It’s the same with the new national ID plan that gives thousands of DMV employees the social security numbers of every citizen. Nothing like sharing everyone’s personal information with everyone to “keep us safe!”

Duh, its the new “privacy” regulation. Your privacy isn’t worth a sh!t to the government, its employees or its agencies. But, then again, your information is worth money to ‘private’ corporations!

96265 I noticed on the top of this page that scriptis overwritten on the About Us, Advertising and contact buttons. Does anyone else notice this? I’ve already emailed the webmaster and am awaiting a response.

Well Douglas they are already sharing personal information with these two said countries, our information. It’s the same with the new national ID plan that gives thousands of DMV employees the social security numbers of every citizen. Nothing like sharing everyone’s personal information with everyone to “keep us safe!”

Well even the Libertarians have a left-right struggle. In fact so do democrats. It seems to me the only group who have no such “problems” are the republicans. Their conformity seems more so like a right vs further right scenario in which they see no qualms in allowing the radical fringe of their party to govern them(and us).

When we look at the so called Libertarian think tanks like the Cato institute or the Heritage Foundation all we see are a bunch of pro-neocons. This is where they lose me although I have friends who are Libertarian who believe these said institutions are not truly Libertarian. On the right there’s Rupert Murdoch. On the left, Noam Chomsky. To be Libertarian or not to be Libertarian, that is the question.

96196 by NewsSophisticate on 8/21 at 1:26 pm: “...Our rights are rapidly being subverted into privileges. .......Unfortunately its not just US…... Homeland Security tightens Grip. Entering Latin America and the Caribbean…”

Uhh, wait until the USA and Canada and mexico are one….. the North American Union - with Mexican police reading you your rights in New York!

#96228 jbart:
A patriot must be ready to defend his country against his goverment-Edward Abbey
I posted that earlier here and I found it and a lot of other great bumper stickers from an ebay store called CarryaBigSticker.
I purchased several truthful ones I put on my van,there are the magnetic ones,but now I don’t know if some over zealous anti-american para military hired by the bush bunch “will take me out” if I display them while driving around, a lot less now as I cannot afford gas.It is to bad that people live in fear of their goverment as that is like having no life at all only an existance.Or as was said in the movie “V” people shouldn’t be afraid of their goverment, the goverment should be afraid of its people.
If you feel you should arm yourself, you probably should while you still can.Follow your inner feelings as they are usually correct. Remember you have to be trained, registered and allowed to own a gun.Also remember that 4 years before WWII the German goverment when thru and took all the registered guns away from the people.The PTB(powers that be) will do this also. So the sooner you can get your arsenal put together the better. If you don’t like guns there are other types of weapons like knives, crossbows etc.
I had neighbors that terrorized the neighborhood for blocks around,they lived next to me for 5 years and they used guns, ball bats, lead pipes, crowbars, I even saw them hit a man with their car and get out and attack him,they would get a group of about 20 people and surround a house and terorize the people inside, the police were no help, our local police told us to get a gun,shoot them and burn them out and we don’t want to hear about it.It came to the point that when I took out the trash I carried it in one hand and a handgun in the other for protection,I couldn’t even cut my grass without threats of being shot(capped) in the back,they finally blighted the house and left in 2005 on July 4.I felt safer when I was at work and I worked a medium security state prison in the 80’s. And GW claims he wants to fight terrorists all over the world. I live in Flint Mi, according to the latest information we are #1 for most violent city in America, last year we were #3.I learned a lot about trying to keep safe during years and that was bad enough.Lets hope America doesn’t stoop so low as to treat her own people with the constant state of fear and terrorism that GW seems all to ready to order upon us.
Another old saying “Expect the unexpected from your prey”( American people). Happy shopping jbart.

I don’t know what is going on but when I went back from posting on another comment there was a notice at the top of the page:To help protect your security Internet Explorer has blocked this website from displaying content with security certificate errors. Does this mean that the NSA or whoever is spying on us doesn’t like the fact that we critize them here. This has never popped up in the 4 years I have been on line. I guess I must have hit a nerve someplace.Just what we need more censorship from the idiot administration and the morons he select to run things.

911Truthdotorg…. I imagine the trouble you are having is the same trouble I am having and have been having since posting our own personal opinions.

I think it’s called “Bushit/Cheney government filters. You know, part of their “terrorist observation plan.” I imagine before too much longer, anyone expressing hate, discontent or just plain not going along w/King Bushit and his little band of criminals, will be labeled as a domestic terrorist.Kind of the same thing Hitler did…

Since he deemed it necessary to eliminate habeas corpus, our 1st Amendment Rights are next. And maybe the Big Dog House at 16th & Pennsylvania is putting pressure on Truthdig. Why not. They do all other media outlets don’t they?